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2023 Most Focused Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy in the Great Lakes Region

11 Ranked Colleges
305 Degrees Awarded
$42,041 Avg Salary
Schools for a Bachelor's Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in the Great Lakes Region

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. College Factual has developed its “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in the Great Lakes Region” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Public Policy is the 113th most popular major in the country with 6,430 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, public policy graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $49,451 and had an average of $21,866 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Great Lakes region, there were 946 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $49,270 and $20,394 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 305 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $40,343 and $26,790 respectively.

This year’s “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in the Great Lakes Region” ranking analyzed 11 colleges that offered a degree in public policy. This a ranking of the schools where the largest percentage of students has enrolled in public policy.

For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

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When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in the Great Lakes Region” list to help you make the college decision.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in the Great Lakes Region

The colleges and universities below are the best for great lakes region bachelor’s degree public policy students.

Top 11 Most Focused Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy in the Great Lakes Region

1
UChicago crest
University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Chicago. The school came in at #1 for the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in the Great Lakes Region. University of Chicago is a fairly large school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 105 bachelors’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 100%. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

Read full report on Public Policy at UChicago

2
Albion crest
Albion College
Albion, Michigan

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Albion College. The school came in at #2 for the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in the Great Lakes Region. Located in Albion, Michigan, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 2 degrees to qualified bachelors’s public policy students in 2020-2021.

Full Albion College Public Policy Report

3

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in the Great Lakes Region list. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor is a large public school situated in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It awarded 82 bachelors’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full U-M Public Policy Report

4
Northwestern crest
Northwestern University
Evanston, Illinois

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Northwestern University. The school came in at #4 for the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in the Great Lakes Region. Evanston, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s public policy degrees to 45 students in 2020-2021.

The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 97%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Public Policy at Northwestern

5
Olivet Nazarene crest
Olivet Nazarene University
Bourbonnais, Illinois

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Olivet Nazarene University. The school came in at #5 for the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in the Great Lakes Region. Located in Bourbonnais, Illinois, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 4 degrees to qualified bachelors’s public policy students in 2020-2021.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Public Policy at Olivet Nazarene

6

University of Illinois at Chicago did quite well in the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking, coming in at #6. University of Illinois at Chicago is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 26 bachelors’s public policy degrees to qualified students.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Public Policy at University of Illinois at Chicago

7

Ohio State University - Main Campus ranked #7 on this year’s Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in the Great Lakes Region list. Ohio State University - Main Campus is a large public school situated in Columbus, Ohio. It awarded 22 bachelors’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full Ohio State Public Policy Report

8
Michigan State crest
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan

Michigan State University landed the #8 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Michigan State is located in East Lansing, Michigan and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 13 bachelors’s public policy degrees to qualified students.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Public Policy at Michigan State University

9
DePaul crest
DePaul University
Chicago, Illinois

DePaul University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking. DePaul University is a large school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 6 bachelors’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Public Policy at DePaul

10
Knox crest
Knox College
Galesburg, Illinois

Knox College did quite well in the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking, coming in at #10. This small school is located in Galesburg, Illinois, and it awarded 0 bachelors’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Public Policy at Knox

10

University of Illinois at Springfield did quite well in the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking, coming in at #10. This small school is located in Springfield, Illinois, and it awarded 0 bachelors’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full University of Illinois at Springfield Public Policy Report

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